11,000 km used Tata Nexon Diesel AMT arrives at CarToq for a long term ownership report

After having the Jeep Compass diesel and a Honda City diesel with us for a long term report, its time to sample Tata’s second best selling model, the Nexon. Given my 75km commute to work, diesel was the obvious choice of fuel. The AMT model was available and I was more than eager for this perfect, urban set-up.

The Etna Orange color however came as a surprise – its LOUD and makes people take notice. Can get a bit awkward sometimes, given that I stay in DL, work in UP and the number plate has a MH registration.

That aside, the last few days have been spent exploring the Nexon a lot more. Neighbours have walked up to ask questions and I am surprised they knew about the 5-star rating. Good work there Tata Motors. The car had over 11,000 km on the odo and team member Shantonil and I aim to put on about 5000km collectively in the next 90 days. This of course will include two road trips.

Date of arrival: 20th December 
Odo reading: 11371
Current reading: 11781
Fuel economy (indicated): 22 kmpl
Nice: Street cred, torquey diesel, audio set-up
Not so nice: Squeaks from left door, firm ride

The initial feedback has been positive. The 1.5-litre diesel is good for 110 PS of power and 260 Nm of torque and even in ‘city’ mode, she pushes me back into seat each time the revs cross 1500rpm. I prefer this mode for my commute runs as the ‘Sport’ unnecessary holds each gear till higher revs. The driver information display seems over-optimistic as I have been getting a regular 22 kmpl+ in Delhi NCR. Could this be true? The answer will come next month in the update. The 6 speed AMT works like a gem, taking care of a hundred gear changes every day. That said, creeping in traffic brings in a lot of judders from the drive-train and I guess this can be sorted via recalibration at the workshop.

Worthy of a mention is the audio set-up in the Nexon. I love music on the move and the 8 speaker set-up by Harman works oh so well. This is a huge compliment from a person who is used to a JBL set-up in his own XUV500, complete with a bass tube! The screen itself is way cooler than I expected – for example I can play with the air-con controls from there and the Android Auto set-up too works flawlessly with my Chinese mobile phone. But there are a few issues as I found out in the first seven days of my companionship – if you are in a hurry and engage reverse the moment you start the car, you will override the touch-screen interface (which takes time waking up) and hence the camera display won’t work. You need to be slow. Second, the lady who lets you know about the selected drive mode when you are toggling between them speaks slowly and unnecessarily. So a quick shift from City to Sport to Eco and back to City and she will still be speaking ‘Sport Mode Selected’ at a snail’s pace – get my point?

These little shortcomings aside, I am beginning the like the Nexon. Even my little one prefers being dropped in this to her bus stop than the Ignis or the XUV500. I guess its the color she loves. Or may be the tablet like screen. Or may be just the vibe, eh? The Nexon goes for her first out-of-city long trip next week and we will keep you posted via our social handles. And before I end, here’s a pic showing how the Orange shade makes the Nexon stand out in a parking lot.